


For Better, For Worse (In Sickness and In Health)

by wonker8



Series: Wedding Rings [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Also Clint and Tony are now married, Angst, Benji apparently likes aliens, Clint Barton is William Brandt, Hammer tech will always fail, Humor, Language, M/M, and saying "I love you" is apparently overrated, codenames are used, coming very close to dying, mention of "Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer", thinking that one's going to die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-25
Updated: 2012-08-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 20:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonker8/pseuds/wonker8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>I’m dying.</i> It was two simple words. Two words that would change everything. Tony took a deep breath, because Clint was asking for the truth. Because this might be it. He might not see Clint again, never speak to his husband again...  All he had to do was open his mouth and form them, say them. <i>I miss you. I’m sorry. But I think I might be dead before you come back from your mission. I love you. I love you so much. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you.</i></p><p>OR</p><p>That time when Tony Stark thought that he was going to die while Clint was away on a long-term mission with his old IMF team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Better, For Worse (In Sickness and In Health)

**Author's Note:**

> I was actually going to stay away from this story. But then I realized that Tony thought that he was going to die in _Ironman 2_ , so the ending of the first story (what with Natasha and everything) didn't actually really fit. And seeing that Tony is much closer to SHIELD in this verse, the whole relationship between Nick Fury and Tony also doesn't work out the way it did in the movie.
> 
> So I wrote this as a way of figuring out how the events would unfold in this verse.

Being in love with Clint Barton was a form of art.

And it was an art that Tony Stark excelled at, if he said so himself. He knew what to do when Clint got that contemplative look on his face. He knew what to say when Clint curled up next to him, his fingers lightly tracing the edges where the arc-reactor met skin. He knew to press soft kisses on Clint’s forehead. He knew to whisper gently, “Hey, what’s wrong, babe?”

“I have a new mission,” Clint said finally, almost reluctantly. 

“You always get new missions,” Tony pointed out. He reached out to cup Clint’s face. “It never bothered you before.”

“It’s a long-term mission,” the archer said softly. “I might miss your birthday party.”

Tony’s breath caught in his throat and he wondered what he should say next. After their marriage, SHIELD had been strangely cooperative and allowed the two ample time together. Even when Clint had a mission, it had always been short and sweet ones that returned Clint within few days. Of course, that couldn’t last. He supposed that they should have seen this coming. Well, he had seen it coming, in a sense. He just hadn’t prepared himself for the heartache that followed when your loved one told you that they couldn’t celebrate your birthday with you.

“You’ll be back protecting my ass in no time,” the billionaire declared after his pause. “Besides, it’s not like this’ll be the only birthday that we’ll get to celebrate together. As long as you’re not off trying to seduce another rich man, I’m fine with it. After all, there’s no one else out there that can please you like Tony Stark can!”

That did the trick. Clint let out a soft chuckle and poked Tony’s face. “And _you_ better remember who put that ring on your finger.”

“While I was unconscious, let me remind you.”

The two giggled like little children. It was something that the two said often to one another. Clint never let it rest that Tony used to have sex almost every night with different girls while the archer tried hard not to stare because he was in the same room as them. Tony never let it rest that Clint put the wedding ring on Tony’s finger while the billionaire had been unconscious and thus, unable to react to it. It was how the two knew they loved one another without saying the three words. 

It was part of the art of loving Clint Barton.  
*  
One odd thing that Tony Stark never thought that he would enjoy while being married was being faithful. Sure, he knew that he would have to try hard. And he was certain that Clint would have understood if he slept around. 

But the point was that Tony never did.

The Stark libido was captured by the archer and him alone. It didn’t matter whether the girl in front of him was a stunning international model. It didn’t matter if a hot man was a flirting with him. Tony just had his eyes for Clint. Sure, he checked people out. Well, who didn’t? But he would always see their flaws. He would see how compared to Clint, they were lacking in so many ways. How compared to Clint, they really weren’t anything much. Because Clint?

Clint was perfect.

When Clint was, as the archer likes to call it, in his “William Brandt” mode after a terrible nightmare about Croatia, Tony thought he was perfect even when grieving over the death of a woman who wasn’t actually dead. When Clint was throwing a temper tantrum, yelling at Tony for whatever stupid thing, Tony thought he was perfect, because you have to love someone in order to get mad at them (not to mention how beautiful Clint looked when angered). When Clint was talking to Ethan Hunt and the two looked much too close for Tony’s liking, the billionaire thought that Clint was perfect, because he knew that Clint would never look at anyone other than Tony with those loving eyes.

At night, when Clint curled up next to him, his hands gently tracing the arc-reactor, as he whispered almost guiltily, “Thank you for coming back,” Tony thought that the archer was the most perfect being. In the morning, when Clint cooked him breakfast, Tony knew without a doubt that Clint was perfect. And after sex, when they just lay together, basking in the afterglow, Tony knew that there was no one in the world that he would rather share this moment with than Clint.

If there was one thing that he hated about Clint, it was his back. Before Afghanistan, Tony had been fascinated by the collection of scars on Clint’s back. It had been an amazing experience to lick at them, to trace them, and to ask Clint for their story (most were told reluctantly, but few made Clint clench his jaw so tightly that Tony’s jaw ached just watching him). 

But now, it was just one mess of a giant burn mark, leftover from the torture and the lack of medical attention. Clint hated it being touched and only reluctantly let Tony near when he was upset enough. And to be truthful, Tony didn’t mind because he hated seeing it. He hated running his hand down Clint’s back. It reminded him of the time in the cave, the time when he thought Clint had betrayed him. So he was fine with always facing Clint and never looking at his back.

Because Clint should always be remembered for his perfection.

It was exactly all of these reasons together why Tony was having trouble forming the words.

_Blood toxicity: 10%_

Nothing to worry about, he told himself. It was just blood toxicity. It wasn’t like it was going to kill him or anything. Well, that was on the assumption that the toxicity didn’t continue to rise as it had been for the last few days. Besides, what was he going to say?

_“Hey Clint, guess what? It turns out that my blood toxicity level keeps rising. I think it might be because of the arc-reactor. But don’t worry. I’ll figure out a cure for it. Or at least I will if I don’t die from it first. But you should just go on with your mission like always.”_

Tony snorted at the thought. Right. He knew how Clint would react to that. He would roll his eyes and call Tony a drama queen. Then he would go on with the mission, because that was what good agents did, and no matter what Clint said, he was a damned good agent, ‘William Brandt’ mode or not. Of course, Tony had a tendency to imagine Clint’s reactions in the most mildest and uncaring ways as possible, so it was also very possible that Clint would explode and never leave Tony’s side afterwards.

With Clint, it could easily be either one. 

But really, this could be nothing. And Tony really didn’t want to keep Clint from his actual job. Clint never stopped Tony when he was being Ironman. He just came along and fired arrows. So Tony was going to let Clint go and be an agent, because Tony Stark was not a drama queen and he was most certainly not insecure about their relationship.

It was going to be fine, he told himself. It was going to be alright.  
*  
Two days before the Stark Expo began, Clint Barton packed for a long trip. He gave Tony a peck on the mouth, who returned with a slap on the ass. Then the two grinned and made promises not to do anything too illegal while the other wasn’t there. 

Then Clint was gone, a serious game face on in place of his usual grins, and Tony knew that he was in his ‘William Brandt’ mode, which was kind of weird now that he stopped to think about it. Clint hated being ‘William Brandt,’ and he rarely had that serious expression on his face unless it was really important. But Clint hadn’t said that this mission was important. He hadn’t even mentioned anything about it, and hacking into SHIELD had only returned him near empty searches (They were finally getting smarter about posting things on their database).

Tony didn’t realize why this mission had been so important. Not because it was world-threatening, apocalypse-looming kind of mission, but because it was personal.  
*  
“I can’t believe those assholes are still alive,” Will positively growled when he was greeted with his usual team, looking much more like an irritated Clint Barton than he realized.

“Are you sure you can handle this mission?” Ethan asked, his eyes sharp as he examined Will’s face. “If you want, we can pull you out.”

Will shook his head resolutely. “No. I’m going to complete this mission. I’m not going to leave any one of Ten Rings members alive.”

“Hey, leave some for us!” Benji joked lightly.

“We are a team, you know,” Jane added.

Will smiled at them. “Just like old times.”

They nodded. “Just like old times,” they echoed.  
*  
“Alright, Operation Hawk-Leave-the-Nest success. Your turn, Widow.”

Natasha Romanoff slipped on a business jacket. “Got it, Bobcat. Operation Analyze-the-Iron a go.”

“How come we come up with these stupid operation names and codenames for ourselves? It’s silly as hell, especially since Tony Stark helped us secure the lines.”

“It’s because it’s _Iron_ that we have to use codenames, Gecko.”

“And how come I always get the lame name? First Pluto and now I’m a Gecko? That’s not fair! You guys get Bobcat, Grey Wolf, and Black Widow, and I’m a harmless lizard? Not to mention, even if Tony Stark hacked into our feeds, wouldn’t he be able to tell what’s what and who’s who just with common sense?”

“Stark doesn’t have common sense, Benji.”

“Enough, Widow, Gecko. Both of you use code names. Report with more details later. And remember, if anything goes wrong, you report to Agent. Radio silence for now.”  
*  
 _Blood Toxicity: 22%_

Tony glared at the small device. “I hate you,” he told it. “Stop it.”

It was a fruitless endeavor, he knew. The device was just measuring. It wasn’t the cause of the rise in toxicity in his blood stream. No, that was his arc-reactor. 

He closed his eyes. “I’m going to get through this,” he muttered to himself. “It’s going to be fine.”

But what if it wasn’t? What if he couldn’t find a single thing in the world to save him? What if he didn’t quite make it through in time? He was going to...

Tony shook his head. No. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He was going to figure this out. But just in case, he had few things to take care of.  
*  
“Widow reporting in,” she stated over the secure line. “There’s been a lucky break. Iron decided to pass the company over to Fox. I’m going in as a lawyer.”

“He’s handing SI over?! That’s crazy! Why would he do that?”

“Who knows, Gecko? Too much responsibility?”

“Negative, Wolf. It’s more likely because Fox is pretty much running the company in everything but name.”

“Stay close and do your best,” Bobcat said. “Continue with your reports.”

“If Iron’s broke, then I’m not letting Hawk come back to him. He deserves better.”

“Radio Silence, Widow.”  
*  
Tony stared at ‘Natalie Rushman.’ He knew that everyone’s attention on him, but he couldn’t stop. He knew that he had seen her face before. And Tony Stark might not have William Brandt’s memory, but he was good with faces. They probably never actually met, and Tony didn’t think that he banged her before Clint, because if he did, he would definitely remember her. So it was most likely through a passing glance. But if it had been something as simple as a passing glance, then he wouldn’t have this feeling like she was someone important he had to know.

“That’s a million dollar lawsuit in sexual harassment if you keep ogling at her like that. Not to mention what Clint might say.”

Okay, fine. Tony gave up. He turned to Natalie and asked her how to spell her name. He searched through the normal medium. Was she a journalist? Nope. But she did model in Japan. What the hell? Was she trying to seduce him with all these provocative pictures or something? What if she was from a rival agency of SHIELD, here to try and seduce him so that they can get information on SHIELD through Clint? Because there was no way that this pretty lady was part of SHIELD. If she was, then she would know better than to try and seduce Tony. Not after what happened to William Brandt, and certainly not after the wedding.

Just in case, he was going to have to keep a close eye on her.  
*  
“Tony Stark is a cheating bastard.”

“… Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Jane. Stark is a cheating bastard.”

“What exactly happened, Widow? And don’t forget codenames. We have them for a reason.”

“Well _Bobcat_ , _Iron_ just hired me as his personal assistant. And when we first met, he wouldn’t stop staring at me. He’s not being faithful to Hawk.”

“If he was just staring, then it doesn’t count as cheating,” Grey Wolf said. It wasn’t like she was trying to protect Iron; she just wanted a fair view of the situation. “It might be for another reason instead. Be careful.”

“I always am,” the Widow snapped. Then she paused at the silence over the comms. With a soft sigh, she relented and asked the question that had been bugging her for a while. “How’s the mission on your end?”

“Ah, well… Funny you should ask that…” Gecko said, laughing nervously.

The Widow’s eyes narrowed. “Talk.”  
*  
“India,” Will grumbled. “Pakistan. Turkey. Afghanistan. Russia. And that’s not counting the mini-bases all over the Middle East and few in Asia... Damn. They really are everywhere. What’s our plan of action?”

“Infiltration. Jane will go in and plant the bugs so that Benji can hack into their security. Then the two of us will go in and destroy them. Depending on the location, we’re going to need different methods of destructions, though. Afterwards, Jane will pick us up, and we’ll hit the next base.”

“How did you guys even find these bases?” Will asked, looking at his team incredulously. “Not even the former Director had this much information on them.”

“Well, let’s just say that we also had a … _personal_ interest in this as well,” Jane concluded with a smile.

Will smiled, thinking that she meant him and Tony. In a sense, she did. Because they had to find a good bait to distract Will long enough away from Tony Stark for their real mission. And if they got to destroy every single Ten Rings base to do that, then she certainly wasn’t going to complain.  
*  
 _Blood Toxicity: 45%_

Tony rubbed his face. It wasn’t working. He couldn’t find any element in the world that could potentially work to make his arc-reactor less toxic. There was nothing that could save him. Not a single fucking thing.

“Fuck,” he whispered softly. “Fuck.”

Well, at least he knew his company would be in good hands. But what about his armors? What about Clint? He glanced at the cellphone across the room. It was lying there quietly, beckoning. But he couldn’t. Clint was on a mission. Clint was busy. He couldn’t call Clint and disturb the agent, especially not after the new protocol about no phone calls (This protocol may or may not be in place because of Tony and Clint).

Tony clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly. He couldn’t contact Clint. No. He would not do that. His armors, on the other hand, were right here with him. There were lots of things he could do with them, but there were only a handful of people he trusted would take care of them. He decided to start with Rhodey.  
*  
The first two bases in Afghanistan went down without a hitch. 

That was because none of them were watching television. Then they were making their way through the airport to India, and Tony Stark’s face was on the big screen. Well, that was nothing new. What was new, however, was the fact that Tony Stark was in a court room, telling off the senator. It was few days old, but it was enough to drain all motivation out of William Brandt.

“I’m going back,” Clint Barton declared. “I knew I shouldn’t leave him alone. He’s being reckless and idiotic.”

“Will, you can’t back out of this mission,” Ethan said. “Not now. We’re not even halfway through the list.”

“He needs me there,” Clint hissed, his voice going quiet so that the passerbyers couldn’t hear their argument. He moved closer in towards his group. “I’m not about to let that idiot throw everything away and-”

Clint stopped speaking as he stared at the news, which was talking about Pepper Potts, the new CEO of Stark Industry.

“The fuck?” Clint whispered. “Okay, I really need to go back and talk some sense into that idiot.”

“You know why we can’t let you do that,” Jane said as she squeezed Clint’s shoulder. The truth of the matter was that they couldn’t let Clint go back now. The Black Widow was working and if Clint was to find out about what was actually going on, things wouldn’t be very pretty. 

“Phone call, then. I’m going to call him. Ask him if things are okay.”

Benji shook his head sadly. “Against protocol, remember?”

Clint looked at the ground, looking very much like the dejected puppy Analyst that they met long time ago in the train yard. Then with a determined look in his eyes, he looked back up and faced the rest of his team.

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s go to India.”  
*  
“Fuck!” Clint exclaimed when his eyes caught sight of Tony Stark in the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. They had just signed into a motel in India, and he had turned the news on in hopes of figuring out what was going on with Stark. And boy, was he getting some interesting news. “What the hell?!” 

“What up, Will?” Benji asked as he glanced over at the TV screen. Then he paused. “Does that guy seriously have a whip?”

“Fuck protocol, I’m calling him!” Clint declared. He reached inside of his jacket for his phone, but it was nowhere to be seen. With a frown, he began to search through all of his luggage, wondering what happened to his phone (He was in such a frenzy of looking for his phone that he didn’t realize how guiltily Benji was clutching his something in his pocket). When he couldn’t find it, he did what he thought was obvious.

He made his way down to the motel lobby and asked to make a phone call.  
*  
“Tony, I saw the news,” was the only greeting Tony got when he picked up his phone from an unknown caller in India. He was trying to make some omelets for Pepper on the jet, but the anonymous call seemed more important.

“Clint! I was… er… I was thinking about you. About how you always make me omelets and stuff,” Tony said. “Wait a minute… I thought it was against protocol to make private phone calls during a mission!”

“It is. It wouldn’t be against protocol if you hadn’t kept calling me for phone sex.”

“But those were some great phone sex! Hey, since you’re here-”

“Not now, Tony,” Clint growled. “What the hell, man? You almost died! What were you thinking going anywhere without Happy or your suit? Why were you there at the Grand Prix anyways?!”

“Ah you know. Official SI business. Shouldn’t you be wishing me a happy birthday? You’re still neck deep in the mission and not going to come back in time, right?”

“You put Pepper in charge,” Clint said, completely ignoring Tony’s words. “I know she’s capable and that she’s good at it, but she’s no you. Tony, what were you thinking? You’re starting to scare me.”

 _I’m scaring myself,_ Tony thought. “It’s nothing to worry about,” he lied instead. “Just hurry up with your damned mission and come home.”

“If it’s nothing to worry about, why is Pepper in charge?”

“Because I’m incompetent and she knows how to take care of the business. She’s practically been running it from the shadows.”

“We both know that that’s not entirely true. While she does take care of most of the managerial issues, you’re the sole reason why Stark Industry works. Tony, what aren’t you telling me? Why did you jump into the Grand Prix? You know how dangerous they are. Please, tell me the truth.”

 _I’m dying._ It was two simple words. Two words that would change everything. Tony took a deep breath, because Clint was asking for the truth. Because this might be it. He might not see Clint again, never speak to his husband again. And if Clint could compromise a mission to call him, then Tony could tell Clint the truth. It was the least he could do, right?

 _I’m going to die._ A simple sentence. All he had to do was open his mouth and form them, say them. _I miss you. I’m sorry. But I think I might be dead before you come back from your mission. I love you. I love you so much. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you._

“I…” he began.

Then the overhead fire alarm rang out, reminding Tony that he had been trying to cook an omelet for Pepper. 

“Shit!” he exclaimed as he moved to rescue the now ruined food. “Look, sorry, Clint. Let’s talk later, okay?”

Without waiting for an affirmation, he hung up.  
*  
“Bobcat reporting in,” the team leader said over the secure line. “We’re approaching danger territory. If left alone, Hawk will hop on the first flight back. Widow, how goes it with the mission?”

“Terrible. Iron just left me a PR mess. This isn’t my area of expertise. I don’t have long to talk. Fox will be on me soon to take care of this mess.”

“What is Iron even doing? Does he know what kind of trouble he just invited in?” Grey Wolf demanded, worry coloring her voice.

“If only that was all…” Widow sighed. “Keep Hawk away for as long as you can.”

“We know. But that might not be very long. Hawk’s very anxious about going back. Do we have any intel on the man with the whips, Gecko?”

“I looked it up, Bobcat. He was reported dead few minutes ago. Apparently the prison blew up. Smells to me like a breakout. But they claimed that there was a dead body, so…”

“Fake body. Widow, prepare for that man to be coming after Iron. Get SHIELD involved if you have to. We’ll hold Hawk here for as long as we can, but you have to make sure that Hawk has a nest to return to.”

“Of course. Widow out.”  
*  
“He hung up on me,” Will said as he stared blankly at the walls. “Why did he hang up on me?”

“Er… Look, Will. I’m sure things are fine. You just caught him at a bad time,” Benji said, trying to cheer him up. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Will shook his head. “None of his actions are adding up. I’m worried, Benji.”

“Hey, it’s going to be alright, okay? You know how I know? Because you and Tony have both survived crazy odds before. You’re going to survive this one, too. Now go get Ethan. I’m in and we’re ready to take down this base!”  
*  
“Widow reporting.”

“Go ahead, Widow. This is Gecko. The others are currently with Hawk on a milk run.”

“Understood. I’ve already reported to Eyepatch about this, but you guys also need to know. Iron isn’t just doing reckless things for fun. I have suspicions that he might be dying, if the strange markings on his neck are any indication.”

“… WHAT?!”

“Widow out.”  
*  
Will was worried. Worried, because he just didn’t get it. What message was Tony trying to send out with his actions? What was he trying to accomplish? Will just didn’t understand. Why did Tony hand his company, his pride and joy, over to Pepper? Why did Tony get into the race car in an almost suicidal manner? Why did he-

Wait.

Suicidal.

Oh.

The agent froze in place, his eyes widening in shock. “Oh,” he whispered. Why hadn’t he seen it? Tony wanted to die. This was a desperate plea, begging others to notice, to help him out of this darkness. And what had Clint done? He yelled at Tony. He scolded him. He was one shitty husband, let alone an agent. Why hadn’t he _seen_ this? Was his name of “Hawkeye” just that? A name? Wasn’t he supposed to be able to see everything?

“Hawk! They’re headed your way!” Ethan shouted over the comms. 

Clint turned and began firing his guns right away, each of his bullets finding its target deep inside the terrorists’ skulls. He emptied his round on all of them, never mind that he probably killed them with the first shots. His mind was in turmoil. Half of him was yelling at him for being stupid and the other half was demanding that he return right now to Tony’s side. 

He had to.

Then why was it that the room was spinning and Benji was yelling so loudly over the comms? Why was it that his legs gave out and he landed so harshly down on the floor? Why was there a pool of blood gathering around him? Why was someone screaming his name, telling him to hang on? Why was the only person he can see in his mind’s eyes Tony Stark?  
*  
Tony Stark blinked his bleary eyes at the morning light. The sun was rising and he was still sitting in the rubbles of his broken penthouse. The mess left behind reminded him of what he was becoming. What he was doing to himself. He was driving all those he loved away. He had given up almost everything that was important to him.

Almost.

He still hadn’t told Clint anything. 

“JARVIS, make an emergency phone call to Clint Barton.”

The house computer made an affirming noise and Tony heard the dial tone. But instead of the normal ringing noise, the phone skipped straight to voice mail.

“Hey, you’ve reached Clint Barton,” said the message. “I can’t come to the phone right now, but go ahead and leave a message and I’m sure I’ll get back to you… eventually. Unless it’s you, Tony. Then stop leaving messages about having sex. I’m getting sick and tired of getting a boner in the middle of work… Oh shit. Is it still recording?” –Click- “Please leave your message after the tone.”

Tony closed his eyes. _Stupid Clint. Why won’t you pick up the fucking phone? I wanted to talk to you one last time…_

“Hey,” he said, his voice gruff with sleep. “I…”

_I’m dying. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you in the dark. And if I am dead before you return, I’m sorry. So fucking sorry. I should have told you. I should have forced you to stay. I should have spent my last days with you. I should have told you how much you meant to me. Fuck, I wish I could see you again. I wish I can hear your laugh, your jokes, your sarcastic remarks… Hell, I would even give an eye to touch your back again. Because that would mean you’re here. And I miss you. I need you. I love you. I’m sorry. So, so fucking sorry._

He smiled sadly. No. He couldn’t form the words at all. “I was going to tell you about how much I want to touch your dick, but I guess that might ‘endanger’ your mission, so I’m just going to hang up now. Come home safely, alright? You owe me lots and lots of sex.”

With a sigh, he turned off the message. Then he flew out of the penthouse, on the search for breakfast.  
*  
“Gecko reporting.”

“This is Agent.”

“Fuck, Phil. _Fuck_. This is craptastic. It’s all wrong.”

“What happened?”

“Hawk is down.”  
*  
Jane gripped the steering wheel tightly. She was outside of the pickup area, waiting for Ethan and Will to come out. She could hear the shouts and the frenzy over the comms, but unlike the others, she didn’t have visual. 

“Come on,” she gritted between clenched teeth. “Come on…”

Then Ethan was on the comms with a simple, “We’re pulling out. Get ready, Jane.”

And the agent made his way out, clutching tightly to something. He looked like he had been shot, but he seemed to have no trouble jumping into the open van door. He slammed it shut and Jane stepped on the gas. 

“Where’s Will?” she asked.

Then she realized that what Ethan was cradling was actually a someone, and that there were scary amount of blood everywhere.

“Will went down,” Ethan said, his voice shaking in a way that it never had before. He was currently putting Will on the van floor, pulling out various medical supplies to try and stop the bleeding. “We’re going to need a doctor.”

“Where are we going to find a qualified doctor in the slums of India?” Jane asked, her voice tight to push down the hysterics. She couldn’t put Hanaway’s smile out of her mind, his soft whispers before he died. How his blood felt warm in her hands, how his body went so still as she clutched him tightly in her embrace. 

“Guys, I know of a doctor nearby. He’s not… exactly practiced in surgery, but he has medical training,” Benji reported over the comms. “I’ll give you directions.”

Jane took a deep breath and focused on the road. She might have been useless when Hanaway had been killed, but they had a chance to save Will. And save him, they will.  
*  
“Well, I’m telling you that you haven’t tried them all.”

Tony Stark stared at the crazy man in front of him inside the donut shop. Leave it to Director Fury to know exactly how to manipulate people. He turned to stare at ‘Natalie Rushman,’ who looked back at him with a cold look in her eyes.

“So basically what you’re telling me is that you sent my husband away so you can spy on me for whatever evil purposes that you’re coming up with. Exactly why did you even bother with this?”

“You’re a known playboy,” Natalie replied, her eyes transforming from cold to frigid. “The marriage isn’t going to last. I don’t want to be the one to pick up the pieces.”

“What?! I’m not going to _cheat_ on Clint!” He couldn’t hide the disgust in his voice. Betray his perfect archer? The nerve! “Not to mention you guys are using people’s tax money to spy on me!”

“You don’t have to cheat,” Fury said, ignoring the comment about the tax money. “Because if you continue like this, you’re going to die and Barton will end up heartbroken anyways.”

Well, Tony didn’t have a comeback to that. Because Fury was right. If he were to die… He wondered what kind of face Clint would make. Would he get that faraway look like when someone mentioned Croatia? Would he get that hunted look like when he stared at Tony’s arc-reactor for a long period of time? Would he break down completely, sobbing hysterically as he held Tony’s body? The last one was an image that Tony couldn’t quite imagine. Clint never cried. Not even after a nightmare, not even when Tony accidentally touched his back.

“So what exactly are you offering, really?”  
*  
They pulled up to a humble hut, and Ethan wasted no time opening the van doors with Will in his arms, ignoring the archer’s blood that was starting to dry on his shirt and hands. He jumped out, ran forward, and kicked the door to the hut down. Inside, there were sickly men and women to the side, huddled together with fear in their eyes. There was also a man with dark curly hair and obviously not Indian. He stood with startled and fearful eyes, and he tracked Ethan’s movement with wary caution.

Bruce Banner, Ethan thought. 

“Please,” he said automatically as he fell to his knees before the man. “You have to save him. Please!”

“I’m not that kind of doctor,” Banner said apologetically. His eyes did not stray from Ethan’s face. He refused to look at whatever poor state the other man in his arms was, because this could so easily be a trick. Why were people wearing high classed suits in India, covered in blood, especially when they spoke fluent English without accents? They had to be agents. And if they were agents, then there was a good chance that Banner had been found out and that he will now be taken by whatever agency it was that wanted to experiment on him.

“But you had medical training!” Ethan begged. “You have to save him! Please! I can’t… I can’t stop the blood. And he… He can’t die. Fuck! He can’t die. Why can’t you understand? _You have to fucking save my brother_!”

Still Banner hesitated. Some agents were great actors. The probability that this was all an act was low, but it was still there. And the last thing he wanted was to turn to the Other Guy here, where the sick could also get injured and the rest of the people in the slums could easily become casualties. But the desperation in this man before him wasn’t fake. The dread, the fear, the need to make sure that his brother wasn’t dead... All of those weren’t fake.

“Put him over there,” Banner said finally. “I’ll look at him.”  
*  
“Widow reporting.”

A soft sigh left Phil’s mouth. “This is Agent. What did Iron do now?”

“Destroyed his penthouse, fought against Stripes (who apparently can use the armor as his own, despite the fact that I couldn’t get to them, no matter how I hacked), and pretty much had another big PR nightmare that you’ll be able to see online in few minutes. Eyepatch is taking him back to his penthouse. He wants us to meet them there.”

Phil rubbed his temples.

“Did I also mention that Fox’s onto me? Because she is.”

“We sent you in because neither Iron nor Fox knew who you were. You’re supposed to be better at this.”

“On the plus side, I’m done with my evaluations. You can call Hawk and them home.”

Phil just sighed heavily. For once, he was rather looking forward to time with Stark, if it meant it got him away from the Black Widow’s wrath once she found out what happened to Hawk.  
*  
A van pulled up outside of the hut, and two more agents (or at least Bruce guessed that they were agents since they seemed to know the brothers) came rushing inside. They made a beeline for the bleeding (well, more like dying, Bruce amended) agent and demanded answers from Bruce.

“I’m not that kind of a doctor,” Bruce told them. “But even I know that he’s lost too much blood. I don’t know where to get him more. Or what type blood he even has. I’m too poorly equipped for this... He’s probably going to die.”

The black-haired agent let out a loud sigh and dropped his head into his hands. However, the other two were undeterred.

“We brought equipment that will help with the blood transfusion,” the woman said. “I’ll bring them from the van.”

“I still don’t have access to blood to give him,” Bruce gently reminded her.

“I can help with that,” the red-haired agent said, raising his hand up in the air like a student would in a class. “We have the same blood type. Use mine.”

The female agent looked at him with a raised brow. “Do I even want to know?” she asked, torn between amusement and relief.

“Stark may or may not be a negative influence on our work environment,” was all the red-haired agent would say. “Besides, I was curious.”

The black-haired agent, the one who had completely fallen apart in front of Bruce (who looked like he was still falling apart), just looked at all of them and choked out a soft, “Thank you.”  
*  
He was running through a darkened hallway, searching for something. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he knew it was important. It was vital that he find it, whatever ‘it’ was. There were rows of doors with numbers scratched on them, each counting down to something. He didn’t bother opening any of the doors, because he knew that none of them contained what he was searching for.

“You’re quite lucky, you know,” someone whispered in the darkness.

He didn’t know who spoke. He was certain that he never met this person before. This person with sort of a dry voice, sort of longing for something no longer there. He wasn’t sure if this person was connected to the vital something that he must find, but the voice had to be a hint. All of this had to be telling him something. But what?

“You have great friends,” the person continued to whisper.

Why did the person sound so sad? Did it matter? He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure at all. And his hands shot out into the darkness, trying to grasp that someone before they disappeared. There was something bubbling in the pit of his stomach, pushing their way up, and he knew he had to say it. He had to tell that someone something important. He was almost there, he almost found it and…

“You can’t die!” 

_Tony._

At the realization, the hallway before him shattered like glass, and Clint Barton was pulled back into unconsciousness.  
*  
Bruce stood frozen at the hand on his arm, at the wounded man’s wild eyes looking directly into his.

“You can’t die!” the half-dying man hissed furiously at Bruce.

Then the man slumped over, his grip going lax, and his eyes rolling back. Bruce had to make sure to roll the man back onto the cot and ascertain that the bandages were still in place. They were. 

Bruce wasn’t the type to believe in faith. But there was something about the way this man before him had grabbed him, the way the man hissed those words out that made Bruce wonder if this man knew about him. About what he tried to do few weeks ago. But that couldn’t be. Why would this agent know…?

He shook his head. He was overthinking this. He should just help this man to the best of his abilities and kick the agents out of his hut. Yes. That’s what he should be doing. 

But no one said he couldn’t feel comforted by those words. Or that he couldn’t keep those words close to his heart.  
*  
“We’ve cut off all communication to the outside world,” Natasha informed Tony with a calm look.

“Good, good,” Tony said, “I always enjoy being a prisoner in my own house… Or what’s left of it, anyways.”

The two agents began to make their exit, when Tony remembered something vital.

“Ah, before I forget. Do me one favor?”

Natasha just gave him a cold look and Phil actually looked a little annoyed. 

“Can you both not tell Clint about the part where I almost died? Or mention any part related to that?”

The two agents both looked a little frayed around the edges at the favor, but they both agreed. Thinking nothing of it, Tony went off to work.  
*  
The world opened up before him in a hazy brown blur. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, but soon enough, the world snapped back into razor sharp focus, and Clint knew without a doubt that he was not in medical. Odd. Then where was he?

He was lying on a cot, and the room that he was in was as big as his assigned SHIELD quarters. It seemed to have been built out of wood, and Clint thought about how easy it would be to take the whole place down ( _Still in the slums of India, then,_ he noted). Sitting cross-legged beside him was Ethan Hunt. Ethan was looking at him with relief, but Clint could spot the fading signs of worry and guilt. Benji and Jane were sleeping on the other side of the room, using one another as pillows.

“Hey,” Ethan whispered softly with gentle eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Who are you?”

There was the briefest pause as Ethan’s face fell completely and horror overtook the man’s eyes. His knuckles turned white as he gripped his knees much too hard, and he gulped slowly, trying to rein in his emotions.

Clint laughed. “Sorry! Sorry! Couldn’t help myself!”

Then the tension left and Ethan was giving him an unreadable look, just as an agent should be doing. But there was an obvious affection in his posture, which was much more relaxed now. 

“Let’s go home,” Ethan said.

Clint didn’t mention that they still haven’t finished even half the list of their intended targets. Because he was just as eager to return home. There was someone at home he had to see again.  
*  
Phil sat by himself, staring at the comms, waiting for a report from India. Natasha had been waiting with him for a while, but then she had been called to Pepper’s side. Since that side of the mission had yet to been cleanly finished, she was forced to leave. So Phil sat alone, wondering what in the world his life had come down to.

When SHIELD had first recruited him, he certainly hadn’t expected the rollercoaster that came with working with Tony Stark. First off, there was Stark’s terrible personality and the way he treated people like they were all beneath him. Then there was the fact that it was all Stark’s fault that William Brandt had been reduced to a pranking mess of an agent. And now here he was, sitting on Tony Stark’s couch, waiting for a report on Barton’s condition. 

Because even if Phil didn’t enjoy Barton’s company as he had Brandt’s, he wasn’t cold enough to shut his eyes when Barton was in a critical situation.

So with bated breath, he rested his chin on his clenched fists, waiting. Then the comms frizzled to life, and the he scrambled to pick it up.

“Agent here,” he said when he held the secured comms in his ears. 

“This is Bobcat. We’re coming back. Pick us up.”  
*  
While Tony Stark snuck out of the house to go see Pepper, Phil made his way to the nearest SHIELD base to see his beloved teammates come back home. Ethan was supporting Will, one arm around Will’s waist and the other securely holding Will’s arm that was wrapped around his shoulder. Benji, oddly enough, was being supported by an exasperated Jane, who looked like she had listened to one too many geeky jokes from Benji.

“Hey!” Clint said, flopping his one hand that wasn’t being held down by Ethan. “We’re back! Where’s my hubby, because there are thousand and one things I need to say to him, starting with, ‘You fucking idiot!’”

“He’s working currently, Barton,” Phil answered calmly. “He’s been forbidden from seeing anyone until he finishes.”

“See, that’s not going to work for me.” Clint pointed at Phil with a superior grin on his face. “You can’t leave suicidal people alone by themselves to work on something. Else they might actually do it.”

There was a stunned pause before everyone exploded with, “WHAT?!”

Then Phil was the first to recover, his eyes wide as he sputtered, “Stark isn’t suicidal! He’s about the last person in the world who would ever be suicidal, given the size of his ego! Yes, he almost died, but _that’s_ nothing new, considering he thinks it’s funny to explode watermelons using his Ironman suit.”

“He what?!”

“Miss Potts and Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes scolded him for that,” Phil assured him. “And if you’d like, you can see exactly what happened on youtube later. Stark’s been nothing but a headache since your mission.”

There would have been more words, except Fury walked briskly into the room, Maria Hill only a step behind. 

“Good timing,” he said as he spotted the team. “Barton, Dunn, Coulson, head out to New Mexico. There’s been an extraterrestrial contact.”

“Aliens?” Benji asked, his eyes shining in a rather worrisome way that made the others take a small step away from him. “I never got to work with aliens before!”

“With all due respect, sir,” Clint said. “I would like to request that I see my husband before being sent on another mission.”

Fury turned to stare him down with his one eye. There was the briefest pause where the director seemed to be considering something. Then the moment passed and Fury shook his head.

“This takes precedent. Stark’s not your priority.”

“He’s always my priority!”

Fury ignored that to turn to Ethan and Jane. “You two will be helping Romanoff. She’ll fill you in. Dismissed.”  
*  
They tied Clint’s hands and legs together and threw him in the back of the car that Phil was going to drive, just to make sure that he didn’t go running off. Clint thought it was overkill and Will just came up with rather dangerous ways to make everyone suffer once they escaped here. Benji made sure to check on his bandages and recent patchwork job that Bruce Banner had given, because he was a good guy like that. Phil just silently drove (There was a rather epic moment in the gas station where Benji asked for a donut and Phil had gone in and stopped a robbery, but Clint stubbornly refused to acknowledge any badassery on Phil’s part, just because the agent wasn’t willing to untie a potentially dangerous but otherwise injured person).

The form of escape came many hours and miles later, when the three of them found themselves in New Mexico with Sitwell and others waiting for them.

And by the time Clint had time to think about what must be happening with Tony, it was well after he saw the news of the massive blowup of Stark Expo, and after the alien-god cosplayers returned home through the Rainbow Bridge.  
*  
“Black Widow here. I’m on the way to shut down all the robots, _Phantom Menace_ style. You take care of the rest.”

“Roger that,” Ethan said over the comms. Then he pulled out his guns and grinned at Jane, who mirrored his movements perfectly. “Just like old times,” he reminded her.

She just rolled her eyes and opened fire at the robots that didn’t fly after Ironman.  
*  
Tony grinned when he saw his husband in one piece and definitely not yelling at him about any potential death that he may or may not have been near that Clint’s agent friends probably didn’t tell him about. 

“You almost fucking died!” Clint exploded right after he saw Tony’s grin.

His grin faltered. “Well… er… about that… I’m sorry, okay? I thought I could handle it. How was I supposed to know that I had to invent a new element to save my life from the arc-reactor?”

“You jumped into the middle of a Grand Prix match! You fought against a random guy with whips! You fought with Rhodey while both of you wore Iron suits! You almost fucking died by Hammer tech! _Hammer tech_! And… _What the hell do you mean about the arc-reactor_?!”

Tony blinked. “Oh wait. You mean Agent and Natasha actually kept their word?”

Clint’s face darkened considerably. “What the hell did you make them promise you? And when did you meet Natasha?”

“Well…” Tony started. Then he stopped to think. Where to begin?  
*  
Thirty minutes later, Nick Fury’s one eye was in danger of a trick arrow that was currently being aimed at it. Tony would have been busy laughing his ass off if it wasn’t for the fact that he was rather too busy staring at Clint’s cold killer face. It looked dangerous and Tony had no doubt that Clint would have no qualms about killing. It was also kind of hot.

“It was a character evaluation,” Fury said slowly, trying to calm the archer down long enough to at least put the arrow down. “For the Avengers Initiative.”

“I thought you said both of us qualified.”

“I said both of you had talents that made you both qualifiable. But personality-wise, neither of you are up to it.”

Tony was the first to take offense at that. “What do you mean personality-wise? Yeah, I’m bit of a crackhead at times, but Clint? He’s like the perfect agent!”

“When he’s being William Brandt,” Fury reminded them both. “Barton, you’re a good agent, but you hold no candle to Brandt. As long as you continue this foolishness of separating your personality, you can’t qualify for the Avengers Initiative.”

Tony watched Clint’s face carefully. He understood what it meant to be on the Avengers Initiative. But he also understood what it meant for Clint to be William Brandt. It meant no more joking around the house, no more pranks, no more naked torso around the Stark mansion, and absolutely no more snark and arrogance that Tony had come to accept as Clint Barton. 

It also meant that his perfected art of loving Clint was in danger.

“You should do it,” Tony said without hesitation. “It’s worth it. You’re good enough to be on the team, so you should.”

But Clint’s face didn’t change. The defiant anger and rebellion shone through and Tony knew without a doubt what Clint’s answer was.

“Fuck you, sir.”  
*  
“I can’t believe you said that to him!” Tony exclaimed gleefully when the two were back in their room.

Clint rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to stop being Clint Barton just because a guy with an eyepatch wants me to stop. He’s the one who killed off William Brandt in the first place. He can’t tell me to be him again.”

“You do know that he’s you, right? That William Brandt and Clint Barton are both the same person? Sure you both have moments and personality differences, but both of you are what makes you you. Both of you together makes me love you.”

“Sap!”

Tony grinned. “And you wouldn’t trade it for the rest of the world. Now, what do you say to some hot sex? Because I haven’t seen you in forever and I really missed your body.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got your voice mail after I found my cellphone in my bag (I could have sworn I already checked there for it). Sometimes I think you only love me for the sex.”

“Then you remember that you put a fucking ring on my finger while I was unconscious.”

Clint and Tony both laughed. Because this moment? It was better than whispering soft, “I love you”s. It was part of the art that was loving Clint Barton.  
*  
Of course, there were consequences of telling off your boss. Clint was transferred to a base to babysit bunch of scientists who were poking and prodding a blue cube. Tony made bunch of jokes about it, but in the end, he really didn’t mind because the base had relatively lax protocol about visiting. Not to mention, Pepper was starting to get a small handle on how to run SI, which freed Tony to save the world more often with his suit or create small gifts for Clint (He was still forbidden from creating arrow tips, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t make other useful things like better armor for Clint). 

Along with the archer, Phil Coulson had been forced to come to the base (something about his new obsession over Captain America creeping out the doctors working to revive the Nation’s icon). Natasha was away in Russia, on a simple intel gathering mission with Jane. Benji was working with Stark in help creating the Helicarrier. And Ethan? He took a small vacation from agent work for a secret visit to his once-wife.

All in all, Tony Stark thought it was a rather happy ending for one screwed up billionaire-turned-superhero and his husband, an ex-Chief-Analyst-turned-sharp-shooter.

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, things did not stay as happy as Tony thought it would be. Because in few months, a certain Asgardian God came for a repeat visit on Earth and destroyed most of New York. 
> 
> But that, my friends, is a story for another time.
> 
> \-------------------  
> A quick guide to the codenames:
> 
> Clint/Will = Hawkeye/Hawk  
> Natasha = Black Widow  
> Fury = Eyepatch (This isn't official. This is a joke one made up for this mission.)  
> Coulson = Agent  
> Ethan = Bobcat  
> Jane = Grey Wolf  
> Benji = Gecko  
> Tony = Iron  
> Pepper = Fox  
> Rhodey = Stripes


End file.
